Grand Cathedral of the Nine

Purpose / Function

The Cathedral was built as a Fortress first and a place of worship second. It is the seat of power for the Hepstrist Church and functions as a military and spiritual centre for the organisation. It has several functions to the organisation:

• Acts as a garrison for the entirety of the Hepto-Militarum
• Acts as a Place for the churches administration to live and work from
• A holy site for believers to head to for pilgrimage; here they receive a blessing from Higher officials such as the Arch Lector
• Has a secret subterranean tunnel into the Under Dark where the Inquisition has a warehouse that stores dangerous artefacts and enemies (devils and Demons they have captured)
• A symbol of the Churches power and Authority to the masses

Architecture

The Cathedral is of High Gothic design; Large Stained Glass Windows, Pointed Stoen Arches, Flying Buttresses and Ornate outer and inner decor. The Stone is a grey and white marble primarily.
To note its flying buttresses are often designed to be defensive towers to rain down hell upon invaders

History

Knights of the Nine

After the kingdom of Stormwind was saved from the Orc horde tensions grew between the Church and the Crown. With the church wanting to escape the shackles that Darnath had put in place centuries ago, the friction between the two forces grew to the point where the fighting started to break out. With the churches members no longer feeling safe without the aid of those knights who had rallied behind them they had one course of action open to them; an exodus. The Church left its home of the Cathedral of the Seven and started funnelling their taxes to building a new cathedral one closer to a fortress city than a place of worship. This great new fortress city was known as the Grand Cathedral of the Nine. This name refers to the Nine knightly Orders who supported their succession form the crown. These Knightly Orders were as follows:

• The Knights of Absolution were previously an excommunicated chapter of knights who repented and follow the church with Zealous enthusiasm.
• The Knights of the Bleeding Swords, a group of Knights who are known for recruiting young orphan boys and girls. Their tactics do not stray from attack the problem head-on. Their swords are enchanted to bleed the blood of the enemies they slay, and they consider it an embarrassment to draw their swords dry.
• The Knights of the order of Ki-Rin, a Knightly order who trace their origins to a sacred grove Guarded by a noble Ki-Rin of Eyia. They are known for protecting druids who come through the Forest Lands.
• The Knights of the Flame a group of knights who protect an eternal flame gifted by Eyias angels. They are known for using Flame Tongue weaponry.
• The Knights of the Black Book, these knights follow the teachings of war written within a mysterious tome. Rumours that this tome was a sister text to the Book of Iod are strongly disagreed with by the members.
• Knights of the order of Demons Bane these knights use no special weapons but rely on scripture and the relationship with the gods to defeat Demons from the Abyss. They are known for strict adherence to Holy Scriptures.
• Knights of the Sun Soul, these Knights believe in the strength of the human soul and aim to prove their strength by fighting in the martial art style that they are named after. They primarily worship Bahamut and like to undertake quests to kill large threats such as orcs and goliath warlords.
• Knights of the Covenant these knights made a pact with the church to always protect the church and its members. They were formed during the first orc invasion by cardinal Ivan Von Kastrov who led them to kill orcs of the lightning hammer, during the orcs campaign in Barovich on their march to Andorhal.
• Knights of the Rose, these knights are simple in their agenda they wish to protect the people of Stormwind. The church likes to favour them as they famed for leaving roses were, they go. This helps the church spread its influence as patrons of this great and noble knightly order. It is common for a commoner to leave tokens of gratitude at houses baring the white rose, as these are safe houses of the Order.

The War of Crown & Cardinal

These knightly orders still serve the church openly to this day. Their knights openly defied the crown when they aided the Churches succession from the capital and the building of this new Grand Place of Worship. When this defiance began it sent a clear message that Royale Family could not ignore; that being the Royale Family’s Weakness. The Reign of Ivonius was wrought with struggle and then civil war again as he ordered his armies to pull down the churches until the Arch-Cardinals relinquished the Knights of the Oath they swore to the church. When the Arch Cardinals refused to bow down to the kings demands the Knights under their employ manned the Grand Cathedrals walls.
Ivonius Raised a force of 6’000 to fight the churches forces of a mere 1’500. Ivonius army was comprised of several Knightly Orders still loyal to the Crown but mainly it was made up of several nobles who gifted their personal forces from the lands they ruled, this meant many peasants and men-at-arms. After a short land campaign where the Churches forces gathered supplies from the surrounding area in a torch and burn strategy, the Knights held up in the Grand Cathedral. Here Ivonius settled his forces for a long siege as the initial assault he ordered cost him greatly. After 2 years of this siege, the forces of the crown finally surrendered when Ivonius was bested in single combat by the famed Knight, Argusius.

“He Swept down upon the king’s encampment, his white wings dribbling crimson with the latest vanguard assault. Argusius, known as the protector of the kingdom and angel of retribution, thrust his standard into the ground and called out for his king. This hulking knight challenged the king to single combat, to the death. Should the king fail his forces would disband leave the Church alone, should Argusius lose the church would surrender to the king’s judgement.” – Ser Fulgrim, Memoir of a blue cloak

ArgusiusWith the King slain by a great knight, the Kingdom was shaken as no king had ever fallen in single combat before however, luckily for this ageing Kingdom its salvation came in the form of the Prince; Anduin the Oathkeeper. The prince had followed the army at his father’s behest as a way to teach his son the ways of war. However, Anduin always disagreed with his fathers’ actions and attitude to the church, being a devote Hepostrist it was widely known that the crown prince and king often argued over matters regarding the state of the church and the kingdom's attitude to their spiritual brethren. And so, his first order was given before his father’s corpse; to disband this siege and disband the army until it was needed again. King Anduin passed a lot of doctrines & laws surrounding the church. Among these, he passed the knightly Doctrines; Pious, Stern and Zealous.

Alternative Names

The Grand Cathedral

Type

Cathedral / Great temple

Owning Organization

Hepostrism